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Things Fall Apart, But Then You Build Again	By : zeldaofarel Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 13943 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 7
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Author’s Note: This is the most successful fanfic I’ve written, if I look at the reviews. I adore every one of your little notes to me and I’ve become quite the review whore. I’m so glad that you enjoyed the first chapter so much and you are inspiring me to keep going with chapter eight with every word.

I would like to thank Hazel, my new beta, for returning the chapter on time and volunteering to take the task of helping me with my many mistakes. This chapter is better now because of her, so please thank her in your reviews as well. She even helped me with a part that I wasn’t comfortable with.

Oh, and one more thing. Dragon Age II is coming out this week and I am a huge fan, so I will be playing a lot. However, I am ahead by enough chapters to post for many weeks to come, though I also intend to keep on working ahead. Like a few nights ago I saw this documentary about Rowling and it inspired me to write 1000 words that I didn’t think of before that.

Now, as promised, here is the continuation of my little story. Enjoy! Tanoshii! (That's Japanese for have fun. I just love this word.)

Chapter 2: Introduction to Wizarding Law

After the meeting in the pub, Harry went back to work with a heavy heart and a list of things that he couldn’t eat for Dinky. As he sat down, he looked over to the empty desk of his friend and wondered how he was going to face him in the light of what he knew. He squared his shoulders and decided to just get through the day. When Ron did finally make it back from his one and a half hour of lunch break, Harry had enough of a resolve to act relatively normal.

Still, he was glad when six o’clock rolled around and he could bid goodbye. He hurried to Floo to the school and pick up the boys, and then they went on to gather Lily. She took his mind off of Ron for a while as she told her father everything of a story about a brave man saving a dragon only to be rescued later on by the aforementioned dragon, which she heard that day at pre-school. Even the boys seemed to be interested as they stayed to listen to the end even when they arrived to their living room.

Once the story ended, they all went on their way. James ran up to his room to do his homework quickly. Al went after him, but slowly enough to keep on reading his book from that morning. He had very little homework and what he did have, he usually did during the breaks between classes. Lily skipped upstairs, proclaiming loudly that she would draw pictures based on the story. Harry called after her to make sure that she would show them to him later. Dinky appeared in front of Harry, asking him about dinner, so he gave the elf the parchment with the list and asked him to prepare something light with the remaining food.

Once the elf had disappeared, Harry sat down on his ornate couch, a piece Ginny insisted on, and waited for Ron to appear. He was sure that once Hermione told the redhead the bad news, he would immediately Floo Harry. He was debating whether to tell Ron about knowing of the situation before he did, but he knew that he was a terrible liar and it would be no use trying to hide things from his best friend. So when the flames changed to green and a disgruntled redhead stepped through, he was prepared.

“You knew,” the tall man said by way of a greeting.

“Hermione told me over lunch today,” he admitted.

“Did she tell you why?” he asked, sitting down on the couch, trying to get comfortable on the furniture. It was more like those pieces that were meant to look good, not feel relaxing. Ron glared at the thing, probably wondering why anyone would have it in their living-room. The second-hand furniture in his living room may have been a little ugly and had seen lots of use, but was very comfortable.

“Of course.”

“What did she tell you?”

“That she wasn’t happy anymore and wanted to become a healer. Something which you didn’t support. She was also troubled by your attitude towards her desire not to have more kids,” Harry summed up.

Then Ron frowned at him in disbelief.

“Load of bollocks. She’s cheating on me with someone,” he said with conviction.

“Are you sure?” Harry asked. “She’s not the type.”

“Of course I’m sure!” Ron stood up and started pacing in front of the fireplace. “Of course you don’t know anything about dating, Harry, but a woman never leaves a man unless she already has someone lined up. The whore. If our kids didn’t have red hair, I would demand paternity tests on them.”

Harry was taken aback by the vehemence in Ron’s speech. He didn’t sound like the care-free, happy person he knew.

“It’s good though. She has no idea what divorce means in the Wizarding world. I can have the kids taken from her and she would never see them again,” he spoke, shaking his right fist. “If she wants to see them again, she’ll have to come crawling back to me and ready to bear me more kids. Did you know that Fleur is expecting her third?” he asked, rounding on Harry, who shook his head. “I will not be beaten by any of my brothers. I’ll have the most children and make my parents proud.” He straightened and stopped his pacing as he said this.

Harry couldn’t understand why Ron was acting the way he was. He didn’t seem like the person that Harry knew. Instead, he was horrified at what he was hearing and didn’t know how to respond. This wasn’t his friend.

“Ron, you can’t mean that,” he said, trying to placate the redhead. “Hermione loves Rose and Hugo.”

“I know.” Ron grinned wickedly. “That is why I’m keeping them. If she loves them so much, she will submit to me, like a wife should. Look at my mother. She gave my father seven children and only once we were all grown up did she venture out on her own. Of course, even now she takes care of the house same as ever.”

The man sitting on the couch didn’t know what to say. He disagreed with his friend’s views so much, but he had no idea how to contest them.

“Ron, you’ve never spoken like this before,” he pointed out.

“I didn’t need to. We were kids ourselves, Harry. But now I am a man, a husband, the head of a household. As a Light Wizard it is my duty to protect and provide for those in my care. A wife’s duty is to serve her husband, provide a good home for him and the children, and to produce as many heirs as the husband wants. Her needs should only come after all of that. My family lives by this creed. None of my brothers’ wives are working, for the same reason. For Herm to suggest that is abnormal,” he rambled on, not aware of Harry’s discomfort at what he was hearing. “She’s being selfish. But she’ll wise up once I put her out on the street and then come begging me to take her back.”

“Out on the street?” Harry asked, horrified.

“Sure. If a wife divorces her husband, she is not entitled to anything. For Light Wizards the most important thing is the unity of the family and it must be upheld at any cost.” Ron sounded like he was reading from a book, the Muggle-raised wizard realised. Perhaps there was a book.

“So wives are discouraged from going against the head of the family by laws, which could be put in place because Light Wizards have dominated the Wizarding world for centuries. So once Herm declares her intention to divorce me, I am no longer responsible for her. She will not be entitled to anything that is mine. Not my house, money, or my children.”

There was a glint in his eye that Harry didn’t like. It was like looking at a person he didn’t know. He thought of trying to convince the man of how wrong it all was, but then he realised that he didn’t know much of the Wizarding world still, even though he had been living in it for so long. He had had no idea that there were such laws. Perhaps he should read something other than novels once in a while.

“So, what are you going to do now?” he wondered.

“I haven’t really said anything to Herm, I just ran out when she told me about the divorce. I had to plan, you see. Now I’m going to go back to her and throw her out of the house. I’ll tell her to not come back, or contact the kids, until she changes her mind. Then I’m going to call mum and tell her about what the bitch is doing. She’ll be furious at her.” Ron grinned. He was probably picturing the Howler that his mother would send to Hermione.

“Where will she go?” Harry wondered. After the war Hermione had tried to reverse the memory spell that she had put on her parents, but it had turned out that she had put so much conviction into the spell that it was permanent. That was when she had been forced to move in with the Weasleys, as she had no home and no money. Harry offered, but Hermione did not want to intrude just when Harry was finally putting his life together and finding himself. So that now left her with no one to really rely on. It was probably easy for her to marry Ron after that, as they were already living together and a couple at the same time. It was a natural progression of their relationship.

“I don’t care. She can go and whore herself on Knockturn Alley for all I care.” The redhead shrugged. “Though she’ll probably shack up with whoever she’s sleeping around with. Oi, and Harry, don’t you dare take her in!” he demanded.

“Ron, she’s my friend. The same as you are. If she asks for my help, I’ll give it to her,” Harry said. He was not going to take Ron’s side in the situation as he was now certain that Hermione had good reasons for divorcing her husband. That night he learned of a side of his friend that probably only she had seen and he did not like it.

“You would take that whore into your house?!” Ron was shouting at that point and Harry was afraid the kids would overhear. ‘Whore’ was not a word they commonly heard in the house. “Maybe you’re the one who’s shagging her! With Ginny travelling all the time, you must be lonely. I always knew she had the hots for you!” He was pointing at Harry, spit coming in large drops out of his mouth as he screamed at the man in front of him.

“Ron…” Harry tried, but was cut off.

“Daddy! I’m done with the pictures!” the voice of Lily came from the stairs.

Ron looked towards the interruption, threw an accusatory glance towards the man still sitting on the couch and walked over to the fireplace.

“Goodbye, Harry,” he said as he threw the Floo powder down.

Harry understood it was ‘goodbye’ for good then. His friend had walked out on him a lot of times and Harry always wanted him to come back. However, at that moment, he did not.

He couldn’t understand Ron’s attitude. Yes, he had always been quick-tempered and fast to fly off the handle, but underneath it all he had the rational mind of a chess player. When had he become the irrational, judgemental person that had just left? Harry tried to think the sudden personality change through, but as he was about to wrap his mind around it, he felt a strange calm come over him. His heart slowed down and his mind, which had been in turmoil settled to an ease. In a moment, all his worries were gone. His heart remained a bit heavy though and even the pleasant feelings he was experiencing could not chase away the sense that Ron was no longer his friend.

With the knowledge of something irreplaceable breaking, he smiled at his daughter as she showed him the pictures of the dark-haired knight and the green dragon with yellow scales down its back. He marvelled at Lily’s skill and it was soon time for dinner.

Just as they were sitting down in the dining-room and getting ready to eat according to their new meal plan, the Floo chimed for the second time that night, signalling a new arrival. Harry motioned for the kids to go ahead and eat their salads. He noted that James made a face, obviously missing his peanut butter sandwich.

As he entered the living-room, he knew what to expect. And there indeed was Hermione, sobbing, with her old beaded bag in her hand. He just went to her and hugged her, same as he would if Lily was in pain.

“I was a fool, Harry. I just assumed that divorce law was the same in the Wizarding world as it was in the Muggle one. I had no idea he could, or even would take them away,” she said into his shoulder.

“It’s going to be all right, Hermione. We’ll figure it out,” he tried to calm her down a bit. “Go upstairs and make yourself comfortable. Lie down a bit.”

“He … he even accused me of cheating on him with you! Like I would. I never saw you in that light and you were never that interested in dating or women either. I was even surprised when you married Ginny,” she said, between sobs.

Harry frowned at what she was saying. Everyone had known that he would marry Ginny. Probably even sooner than he had known himself.

“I don’t understand.”

“Well, during sixth year, when you were supposedly going out with Ginny, you spent more time stalking Malfoy. You always had something other than girls keeping you occupied when other boys had nothing but them on their minds,” she pointed out. She had apparently decided to occupy her mind with something other than her own problems.

“You know what that was, Hermione. He was up to something and I wanted to find out what.”

“I know, Harry, still, when you are supposedly in love with the girl, you should pay more attention to her. Granted, there was war going on, but once we went back for eighth year, I was hoping that you would be more passionate with Ginny. Instead, I saw a reluctance in you. Like … like you were forcing yourself to be with her,” she said as she let go of him to look into his eyes.

“If it hadn’t escaped your attention, I’m very much in love with my wife.”

“Where is she now then? She’s always away travelling and you don’t seem to mind.”

“She loves to travel and before she never had the opportunity. I’m glad that I can provide that for her now and I’m happy to watch the kids. Of course I miss her, but as long as she’s happy, I’m happy. I don’t know where you are going with this Hermione. My marriage is a good one. I wouldn’t change anything about it.”

“Sorry to bother you then. I’ll go up.” She made her way up the stairs, dropping the subject.

Harry went back to the dining-room and resumed eating. He also asked Dinky to take up some food for Hermione, just in case she felt up to eating something.

It had been a difficult day for Harry, but when his head hit the pillow, he felt oddly good. Things were happening and it was as though he had been standing still for many years. He was finally moving forward. He just hoped Hermione would get her children back in the end.

End Note: I know that Ron seems weird at this point, but I have a reason for that. Also, remember that this is 14 years after the end of Book 7 before the Epilogue and a lot has changed since then.

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Things Fall Apart, But Then You Build Again